DAUGHTRY to Headline 2007 Homecoming Concert
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The Universityʼs source for entertainment news The Volume 1Sc | Issue 1 | eSeptemberne 4, 2007 DAUGHTRY to headline 2007 Homecoming 8 concert Contents Staff Editor Corey Craft New Opera Theatre [email protected] director has changes Assistant editor 2 in store for program Phil Owen [email protected] 8 Design editor Kathleen Buccleugh UP announces DAUGHTRY [email protected] as this yearʼs Homecoming concert headliner Art director 8 Elliot Knight [email protected] The Crimson White Corey Smith talks about the Editor creative process, touring Mike Faulk [email protected] 10 and his show at the Jupiter The Crimson White 10 Managing editor Jessie Patterson UA grad Lauren Leonard [email protected] shows off her new This issueʼs contributors houndstooth clothing line Matt Abbey 12 Caleb Johnson 12 CJ McCormick Laura Pitts Advertising manager Maria Franco In every issue Advertising account executives Jeff Haas Drew Gunn 4 Scene it, love it; poll 9 Album picks; Whatʼs in your ears? Brandon Clark JT Braswell 5 Upcoming fi lms; DVD picks 11 Guest column Tomas Nation Nick Harbaugh 6-7 Biweekly calendar 13 A word from the editor LeighAnne Landis 2 The Scene | SEPTEMBER 4, 2007 THE CRIMSON WHITE The Music horn while participating in the Drum and Bugle Corps,” he said, motioning to the Man second row of one of his three offi ce bookshelves, where three of his original Drum and Bugle Corps mouthpieces guard various books of opera vocal scores. BY LAURA PITTS Over the years his singing voice has THE SCENE CONTRIBUTOR deepened from tenor to lower than bari- [email protected] tone. Yet no matter the changes his body undergoes as he ages, Houghtaling said The University’s new opera director he realizes the simplicity one can enjoy by does more than sing. He twirls. simply hearing the sound of the human Paul Houghtaling’s red and white um- voice. brella spins horizontally in the air, only to “My voice is my instrument. Over the land perfectly in his hands seconds later. years I have understood the power I can He fl icks his wrists, sends the umbrella have on one person by communicating spinning into the air once more and catch- with my voice,” he said. es it seconds later with one hand on top, Houghtaling holds a Bachelor of Arts one hand on the bottom. from Holy Cross College, Worcester, “I taught myself to twirl with a baseball Mass., a Bachelor of Music from The New bat and would constantly poke holes into England Conservatory of Music in Boston the ceiling of my childhood bedroom,” he and a Master of Arts from Hunter College said. “I would take stickers and stick over in New York City. Currently, at the age of the holes so I wouldn’t get in trouble.” 45, he’s nearing the completion of a doc- After all these years, his experience in toral degree from the Graduate Center of the Avant Garde Drum and Bugle Corps the City University of New York. has never left him. It has only furthered “It’s on pop rock from the 1970s that him. somehow became a research interest of “I’m an actor, not only a singer,” he said, mine, even though I don’t sing that type resting the umbrella back against the offi ce of music,” he said, pointing to a bookshelf wall. “I also twirl rifl es, something left over full of black binders. from my Corps days, and incorporate that For years, Houghtaling made his living into my performances.” completely as a performer and fi nally real- A black K. Kawai grand piano takes ized he wanted to teach. up most of the offi ce and various post- ers from operas such as “Carmen,” “Bos- “Teaching is a calling in and of itself,” ton Symphony Orchestra” and two aged he said. “The goal has always been not to group photos from Houghtaling’s DCI have one more degree hanging on the wall. years hang on the freshly painted creamy It’s been to teach.” yellow walls. A bust of Mozart with a New Since his college years, Houghtaling has York Yankees cap stares at incoming visi- traded in his marching uniform and rifl e tors from atop the piano. for a more encompassing medium: opera. As Houghtaling moved around the “I love having an impact on the lives room, he said everything he learned from and future careers of young singer actors the Drum and Bugle Corps has prepared that want to perform for a living,” said him in his most recent quest as the UA Houghtaling. “I know how tough this fi eld School of Music’s new assistant professor is and I want to be their guide.” of voice and director of the opera theatre program. Moving down South “Drum Corps taught me a certain type of precision and detail — how to be or- Houghtaling’s decision to move to Al- ganized, creative and perform with disci- abama was one of careful thought and pline,” he said. planning, part of his desire to fi nd the per- A true Northerner, Houghtaling was fect job that suited him both creatively and born and raised in Troy, New York. Dur- spiritually. ing high school he participated in concert “Really, I wanted a job that fi t me in ev- band. While he said he can play some piano, eryway,” he said. “I was lucky to have other his favorites are the trumpet, French horn offers but they just didn’t feel right. Ala- and other low-core brass instruments. bama seemed like a good fi t creatively. I “Trumpet was my fi rst musical instru- sensed that from the start.” The Scene | Elliot Knight ment. Then I learned to play the French He calls himself a workaholic, which he THE CRIMSON WHITE SEPTEMBER 4, 2007 | The Scene 3 said is both a blessing The changes and the vision program and we are going to plant seeds and watch and a curse, but a trait he Next opera program it grow.” keeps in check. He also The UA School of Music’s op- Houghtaling calls opera “larger than life” and said he can be hard on What: The Promise of Living: era department will undergo new said you have to be a great musician and actor all at himself — ridiculously and promising changes this year, the same time. hard — but has learned to Scenes of Life and Love Houghtaling said. “The training of an opera singer is so huge, and let go and allow both his “I’m taking my experience, we are never done or fi nished training. A young Nov. 9 at 7:30 and Nov. work and his life to mesh. When: my goals, my passion and my vi- singer needs to grasp all those things — especially “I’m proud of the fact 11 at 3 p.m. sion to convert this program and good Italian diction,” he said. that I’ve found a balance place it on a track toward becom- The love of the craft is what distinguishes opera between my professional Where: Choral/Opera Room ing nationally-recognized as an performers, and one of Houghtaling’s goals is to world, my family and my educational training program for ignite excitement in students about their craft — friends,” he said. of Moody Music Building young singer actors,” Houghtal- and in turn, bestow some of his own excitement in Houghtaling said he $5 for UA students and ing said. each student’s life. doesn’t understand why Cost: Houghtaling said he hopes to “If you don’t truly love doing this, don’t do it,” people refer to his move seniors, $10 general admission transform the UA opera depart- to Alabama as a “culture he said. “If there is no drive, dedication and pas- ment into a learning environment sion, then it isn’t going to work for you.” shock.” For Houghtaling, that prepares students for the all- Houghtaling said he understands he can only the culture shock isn’t the Southern heat or the encompassing job opera entails. prepare his students for their futures, not give overfriendly attitudes of those he’s met. The shock One change will be the name of the program them talent, passion, drive and ambition. has come from doing two things his Northern life- itself, which will work to favorably compare the style never allowed him to do: owning a car and Capstone’s opera program with other national op- “I didn’t leave New York for any old job. I came buying a house. era programs, Houghtaling said here to make a difference, an impact, on the lives of “Buying the car was easy but buying the house, Newly dubbed the University of Alabama Op- young singers,” Houghtaling said. “If all I change that’s a different story,” he said, rubbing the callus- era Theatre, Houghtaling said the program’s new is the life of one student, then my journey down es on his hands that have formed from his sweep- name will help with the recruiting and marketing here will be worthwhile.” ing, cleaning and doing basic homeownership. of students. Of everything he’s left behind, Houghtaling “All of the other major opera training programs misses the endless coffee shops and New York in the nation use a simple title such as ours,” he said. eateries that stay open past 11 p.m. the most. “It may not sound as clever as OperAlaBAMA, but “I’m getting up earlier and eating dinner earlier will help build recognition nationally.” because everything closes early down here,” he Though a singer and teacher, Houghtaling is said.